LUBEC – Generations of parents have told their children while visiting the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse that they are standing on “the easternmost point in the United States.”

Now the children can read that much for themselves.

Saturday afternoon, a sky-blue but blustery day down by the lighthouse was the moment that lighthouse lovers have anticipated for years: A granite marker was dedicated to indicate that the site is the “easternmost point in the U.S.A. West Quoddy Head, Lubec, Maine.”

Just to reassure, the site’s geographic latitude and longitude coordinates are etched in the stone: 44-48-9 N, 66-57-1 W.

The marker stands next to the visitor center at the lighthouse, an 1809 structure known for its fanciful red and white candy stripes.

The lighthouse is “an icon of Maine,” said John Smith, manager of the adjoining Quoddy Head State Park.

“It’s nationally known, and this site draws tourists from all over the country and the world.”

A mix of 50 tourists, locals, visitor-center volunteers and state officials joined in the dedication ceremony that delighted both the old and the young. The assembled lighthouse afficionados listened to a round of appreciative comments.

“What a magnificent addition that honors and preserves this special place,” state Sen. Kevin Raye, R-Perry, said, speaking of the 3,000-pound granite marker that was donated by a Bangor company, Qualey Granite and Stone Fabrication.

“This is the minimum-sized stone you would want to ensure that it will stay,” Rep. Ian Emery, R-Cutler, said while wind whipped around his tie and the U.S. and U.S. Coast Guard flags flapped above him.

The waist-high monument is sure to inspire thousands of photos of tourists posing at the point.

Tim Harrison, president of the American Lighthouse Foundation in Wells, noted that the Maine Tourism Office receives the most requests for three things starting with L – L.L. Bean, lobsters and lighthouses.

“Lighthouses are more than just beauty. They are historic,” he said to the group. “One can learn more about American history by studying lighthouses than any other single source.”

To preserve the moment, at least for the next 53 years, members of the West Quoddy Head Light Keepers Association then announced the burial of a time capsule near the new granite piece.

Several people tossed in their symbolic spades of dirt. The first came from Deane Hutchins, the current president of the West Quoddy Head Light Keepers Association.

The time capsule will be opened in 2058, or 200 years since the building of the lighthouse keepers’ quarters. That building was transformed into a visitors center four years ago.